Basic Pascal

Basic Pascal version 1.21 "Sand Road" – little sun!

Spring is just around the corner. Sunshine. And it's time for a new version of the Basic Pascal set. The keyword for this release is "Sand Road." The game is called "Straight Road." There are four new games in total. Two of them are new, quite noticeable by my standards. And two games are mods, modifications. In other words, they're simply additions to what was already there.

The new feature in this version is the new structure of the set. There's a game folder. Then there's a mods folder. The first folder contains the original games themselves. The second folder contains mods—modifications. A new phenomenon. Modifications. These are already released games, but with some improvements. Something I've long dreamed of. A kind of experiment. Some innovations. But the basics are the same as before.

This is a kind of groundwork for a second version of the game, a reminder of the game, simply a way to do something on this theme again. But without developing from a template or from scratch. With a ready-made, implemented idea. Add something else. Whatever was on my mind. It could be version 1.1 or a patch, you can think of it that way. Some improvements, changes.

And this version has 4 games. 2 fully-fledged new games. And 2 modifications. These are Straight Road, Galixanar, Crosses and Shooting Mod X, Fish Arcade Extreme Mod.

Straight Road. This is a game about a road. And how you drive along it. Top-down view. It's an arcade game. Simple. Not too fast-paced and not very varied. The first version of the idea. As usual for me, for relaxation, and as slow as I am. Monotonous.

Sort of like a racing game, but it's a runner. You're driving a car, top-down view. Two lanes. And traffic. And you just have to avoid oncoming cars. You can't go off the road. There are palm trees on the side and it's spring or summer. The idea is that you're going to the sea. On vacation. A game about vacation. But you can think about anything. About a country road. Or whatever you like.

 There are a ton of car sprites. Multicolored. To put you in a good mood. And a sunny game theme. That's why I decided you're going to the seaside on vacation. In a cool car, with the top down. But then again, your imagination can be anything. There's a musical theme. Two melodies.

 By overtaking cars, you get points. And there are several levels. And different backgrounds on the side. And a slightly different set of oncoming cars. Mostly just cars. There's a little jeep. The game also has the idea of a bright multimedia project from the early 90s. The first multimedia projects. With graphics and sound.

 A top-down car game. In the format of leisurely gameplay. Besides the theme of the first Windows applications, like Windows 3.11 or Windows 95, there's also MS DOS like 6.22 SVGA or VGA with bright graphics. And simple gameplay. Just a relaxing drive.

You have three lives. I also remember a game for the MSX2 system called Road Warrior, and a racing game for the NES 8-bit called Highway Star. And it's spring. That's why I named this game release after that game. And the main theme is a road with sand in the middle. And then there's the vertical screen format. Music. Summer. Good mood.

Galixanar. It's an arcade. A space shooter. Like Space Invaders. The screen resolution is 320x200. It's simple. You're below and shooting at the top. And there are two lines of enemies. They move a little. For variety. And sometimes they shoot back.

The level increases. And the activity increases. The enemies become more active. They even move towards you. And when they touch your line, it's game over. So you have to destroy them all.

So, two lines of enemies. 10 per line. They shoot. They move slightly left and right around their set point. And every now and then, they take a step toward you vertically. The classic Space Invaders formula.

I've made games like this before and even considered making it my main theme at one point. Previously, I'd made games more like Galaga. Where the enemies just don't move. It was a static picture. But now I've added movement along the Y axis. And you have to destroy all the enemies in time.

 In this game, everything takes place underwater. It's like space. But underwater. On a distant planet. An ocean planet. It's deep. The ocean is poorly permeable to light. And someone lives there. The game's background is either purple or black. It changes from level to level. I also drew sprites. The idea is like fish underwater. Deep-sea fish. Like anglerfish. A bit creepy. Or there was an underwater theme in the game Aqua Nox. And so I also went diving with this game.

Some underwater fish or underwater vehicles. They can glow. Underwater, these creatures or vehicles generate electricity and glow. The soundtrack is gurgling underwater. It's unusual and quiet.

And suddenly you start hearing something. In the silence. Gurgling. Fish theme. The player moves left and right and shoots with the spacebar. An unusual appearance and underwater theme. Gurgling instead of music. Science fiction, a bit of mysticism and mystery. Everything is underwater. It's unusual.

Crest and Shooting Mod X. This is the very first modification. This game opens the modifications section. The mods folder has been created. This game and other modifications should be found in the mods folder.

A turn-based tactical game. Cover and shooting. You emerge from cover and shoot at the enemy. The enemy does the same.

The game's core is the same as the original. It just has a few new features. These are effects. Some are purely visual, while others affect gameplay. This is a visual choice of cover. As the game's title suggests, there are tank crosses here. That's why they're available. Double, triple. Just the letter X drawn multiple times.

Also concrete, a square like this. A brick wall. A square with a pattern. And a house. This is a wall with a pattern and a window opening. This is an external visual choice. And a choice of weather. This is rain. Snow. Small, medium, or large. This is a visual effect. A static image of stripes or stars symbolizing snow and rain.

There's also fog. It's also small, medium, or large. There will be horizontal stripes on the other half of the screen—where the enemy is. And the option of pitch black or long range. This affects gameplay. You can't see the enemy. It's either very dark or very far away. You only see the bullets fired by the enemy.

 The initial idea for the modification was to use the long range or pitch black mode. The menu has also changed a bit. The title screen, but not much.

 Fish Arcade Extreme Mod. Another modification. This one revolves around line of sight. Gameplay has been sped up. And the line of sight is constantly decreasing. You swim like a fish. And dodge rocks. It's still the same game. But there's a line of sight. And as you level up, it gets smaller. So, the game has become more dynamic. And a life bar has appeared.

The first level is similar to everything before. And during the first half of the game, the line of sight decreases as you level up. Little by little. At first, it's unnoticeable. But starting in the second half, you only see half the screen. And you have to react a little faster.

A nice game about a fish. I also changed the story. There's a bit of text here. And the main menu background. You just use the arrow keys to move. Only up and down. And you move within a narrow plane. And avoid the black rectangles—rocks.

The fish swim everywhere. In the ocean and the river. In the pond and the lake. In dark water and clear water. Otherwise, it's the same game as before. About a fish that swims and swims. Still, the dynamics have increased. But again, not by much. This is where the limitations of the Graph module come into play.

For Turbo Pascal or Free Pascal. The Graph module is perfectly suitable for graphics, but more static ones. You can draw and color beautiful graphs. That's true. But full 60 frames per second gameplay will flicker the screen a lot. I deduced this from my attempts to do something about it.

And so the happy fish swims somewhere further! And you have 10 lives. The stripe at the bottom is like this. Bright green. Or blue. Such a bright color. A bright toy about a fish.

Basic Pascal version 1.21 "Sand Road" – most newest version. In this version there are 4 new games! Straight Road, Galixanar, Crest and Shooting Mod X, Fish Arcade Extreme Mod. And even more retro games! It is a pack of retro games with modern versions of Basic and Pascal.

Basic Pascal: http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/games/basicpascal/index_eng.html

Website: http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/home_eng.html

Itchio: https://dimalink.itch.io/basic-pascal